Sageman's Blog

For those in the know with regards to the fantasy genre, Terry Pratchett's name is uttered up there with J.R.R. Tolkien or C.S. Lewis. He is the creator of the fantasy world known as, "The Discworld." A flat disc shaped world floating through space on the back of four elphants sitting a top the back of a giant turtle "The Great A'tuin." Though his novels have been immensly successful, to date no movie had yet to have been made based on his works. Even though the rights to several of the books had been sold and some even bought back, no final movie had met production till now.

With the Hogfather we are presented a wonderful parody of your typical Christmas tale. Yet it's not so typical because this story is about Hogwatch a holiday that even the movie proclaims is reminiscent of our very own Christmas. It follows the journey's of "Death" and his Grand Daughter "Suzan" as they try to stop the Assassin "Teatime" from killing the Hogfather. The tale takes us on a journey that embraces the strength of belief and the very nature of the holiday of Hogwatch, which as I mentioned is very similiar to Christmas.

I think the thing about this movie I like most is the cinematagrophy, the production for this movie rivals some of the best fantasy movies out there. This is not your typical direct to dvd production. This movie has put a great deal of effort to keep the special effects on par with any successful feature film. Combine this with some wonderful acting, from the likes of relative new comers Michelle Dockery and Marc Warren, and it even builds this movie up further. To top it off you add in the voice acting of Ian Richardson and you have an eary and original portrayal of Death that is probably the best performance in the film.

The movie does a great job of putting a new spin on the often stale Christmas story and in doing that alone makes it a great option for one of your Christmas movie picks. I feel the movie is suitable for the whole family. There is some violence but nothing to bloody and the language is kept to a respectable level.

This is only available on DVD and well worth purchasing or at least renting from your local video store. If you are a fan of the fantasy genre then do yourself a favor and get a copy while they are still available. Like I said Terry Pratchett will one day be recognized as this generations J.R.R. Tolkien.

It's important to note the quality taken into producing this book which was made for TV in the UK. Vadim Jean did a wonderful job putting in more than most would have expected in producing this feature.

Now I await Vadim Jeans next release of "The Colour of Magic" on DVD, also one of the Discworld books of Terry Pratchett. It is to be released in the UK in October 2008. Don't know when it will make it here but I think it will be worth a watch as well.